Members of the New Brunswick legislature will be recalled on Wednesday to consider back-to-work legislation for striking jail guards, college custodians and human service counsellors, says House Leader Mike Murphy.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1251 rejected the government's call to go to binding arbitration on Friday.

"Caucus met this morning by phone to consider our options," Murphy told a news conference in Fredericton on Monday. "There was unanimity that we need to act quickly to salvage the current session for some 6,000 college students in the province."

About 500 community college custodians, corrections officers and human service counsellors went on strike Jan. 10.

Only 20 per cent of the jail guards have been off the job because the positions are deemed essential services. However, the dispute has forced the cancellation of classes at 10 of the province's 11 community college campuses because of dirty classrooms and washrooms. Only Dieppe remains open and is operating on a half-day schedule.

The union wants an increase of $1.12 an hour for college custodians to bring wages in line with custodians working in the province's public schools. It also says correctional officers working in provincial jails are the lowest-paid in the country.

According to Human Resources Minister Wally Stiles, the government offer to increase the wages of custodial workers by 18.3 per cent to $17.23 an hour by 2011, while the hourly wage for correctional officers would go from $20.52 to $25, an increase of almost 22 per cent. The offer would also provide a 12.6 per cent wage increase for human service counsellors, taking them from $16.88 an hour to $19.01 in 2011.

Talks have been at a standstill since Stiles told the union that the offer was "final" and the union refused to put it to its members for a vote.

"We have reluctantly reached the conclusion that back-to-work legislation is our only option," Murphy said. "We're disappointed to have to take this step and recall the legislature but the interests of the students are our number-one priority in this matter."

Students have expressed concerns that the dispute would cause them to lose their semester.